The Company repurchased approximately $196 million of its outstanding common stock during the quarter

Same-restaurant sales increased 1.3% for the quarter

+2.0% for Olive Garden

-1.2% for The Capital Grille

+0.0% for Yard House

+0.6% for LongHorn Steakhouse

-1.7% for Eddie V’s

+0.7% for Seasons 52

+3.9% for Bahama Breeze

* See the “Non-GAAP Information” below for more details

“I’m pleased with our performance during the quarter and the progress we made against our strategic initiatives,” said CEO Gene Lee. “We continued to gain market share and our same-restaurant sales growth outperformed the industry by a considerable margin. We also returned significant capital to shareholders in the form of our regular dividend and $196 million in share repurchases.”

During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 3.2 million shares of its common stock for a total cost of approximately $196 million. An additional $4 million in shares were repurchased subsequent to the close of the first quarter, for a total of $200 million in shares repurchased year-to-date. In addition, Darden’s Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program under which the Company may repurchase up to $500 million of its outstanding common stock. This repurchase program does not have an expiration and replaces the previously existing share repurchase authorization.

Updated Fiscal 2017 Financial Outlook
The Company reaffirms its outlook for same-restaurant sales of approximately 1.0% to 2.0% and increased the outlook for diluted net earnings per share to $3.87 to $3.97 from $3.80 to $3.90. This reflects approximately 126 million diluted average common shares outstanding for the year.